Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Feʿilātün feʿilātün feʿilün

Nedir Allāh bu sevdā bilemem
Neyi ḥāvi şu sevīdā bilemem
Dilde bir sevgili peydā bilemem
Bende bir sevgi hüveydā bilemem
Severim sevdigim ammā bilemem
ʿAşḳ dirler ne bilinmez maʿnā
Anı erbābı bilirmiş ḥālā
Biliyor göñlüm o ḥāli ammā
Bilemem sevdigimi vā-ḥayfā
Severim sevdigim ammā bilemem
ʿAşḳ hem neşʾe-i ḥikmet olamaz
ʿĀlem-i ṣaḥvada cennet olamaz
Bu muḥabbet gibi niʿmet olamaz
Dime mechūle muḥabbet olamaz
Severim sevdigim ammā bilemem
Bozma beyhūde tesellīmi benim
Ḳapama rāh-ı teʿallīmi benim
Bilir Allāh tecellīmi benim
Ṣorma esrār-ı tevellīmi benim
Severim sevdigim ammā bilemem
Mayamız mā-i muḥabbetdendir
O muḥabbet daḫi ḫubbetdendir
Sevilüp sevmek āfetdendir
Sevdigim bilmemek ülfetdendir
Severim sevdigim ammā bilemem
Eyledim ḫayli vücūha taṭbīḳ
Olmadı vech-pezīr-i tevfīḳ
Cūdi yā sırr-ı muḥabbet ne daḳīḳ
Şunı itdim ki nihāyet taḥḳīḳ
Severim sevdigim ammā bilemem

In English

1. My God, what is this passion, I cannot tell; what does this black spot of the heart (süveydâ) hold, I cannot tell. Has a beloved appeared in the heart, I cannot tell; does any love show in me, I cannot tell. I love, but whom I love I cannot tell.

2. They call it love, its meaning is unknown; its adepts, they say, still know it. My heart knows that state, but, alas, whom I love I cannot tell. I love, but whom I love I cannot tell.

3. Love cannot be the joy of wisdom as well; it cannot be a paradise in the world of sobriety. There can be no blessing like this love; do not say "there can be no love for the unknown". I love, but whom I love I cannot tell.

4. Do not break my consolation for nothing, do not close my road to ascent. God knows my manifestation; do not ask me the secrets of my devotion. I love, but whom I love I cannot tell.

5. Our leaven is of the water of love; and that love is from the seed of affection. To be loved and to love comes from a calamity; not knowing whom I love comes from familiarity. I love, but whom I love I cannot tell.

6. I tried it on many faces, many ways; none came to success. Cûdî, ah, how subtle is the secret of love; in the end I have established this: I love, but whom I love I cannot tell.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The refrain of this muhammes is one of the plainest and most memorable lines in the divan: "Severim sevdigim ammā bilemem", I love, but whom I love I cannot tell. Loving is certain; who the beloved is remains unknown. In divan poetry the beloved's name is usually not spoken, but the lover knows it; here the lover himself does not know. This unknowing approaches the Sufi idea that at the highest degree of love the beloved fits into no form.

The short metre and plain language of the muhammes recall the flow of the songs and hymns of the period. The first stanza repeats the word "bilemem", I cannot tell, in every line and turns into a confession: what the passion is, what the "süveydâ", the black spot of the heart, holds, whether a beloved has appeared, remain unknown. The third stanza opposes those who say there can be no love for the unknown; in the fourth he asks them not to inquire into the secrets of his love and says that God alone knows his manifestation.

The fifth stanza carries a fine play on words. "Muhabbet" (love) and "habbe" (grain, seed) come from the same root; our leaven is of the water of love, and love is of the seed. In the last stanza the poet says that he tried this love on many faces and ways, reached success in none, and that the certain conclusion he arrived at in the end is again this unknowing. Presenting the refrain in the last stanza as the verdict of an inquiry turns the muhammes into a short reflection on the tension between knowledge and love.

Bibliography

  • Havva Tok Yıldız, Merzifonlu İbrâhîm Cûdî Dîvânı (İnceleme-Metin-Sözlük) [1b-43a], Master's thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 2017, pp. 63-64 (poem no. 47; manuscript fol. 20a-20b). http://libra.omu.edu.tr/tezler/116853.pdf

Online sources